HTC Touch HD Review

Review of Astounding New HTC Touch HD Exemplifies What a Treo Pro Might Look Like Without Its Keyboard & Power Of Windows Mobile

As you might know, the Treo Pro is designed by Palm and manufactured by a company called HTC which recently released a super high resolution 480x800 pixels touchscreen-only smartphone called the HTC Touch HD (pictured above right) exclusively for Orange in the UK that I was rather lucky to receive a couple of days ago.

In much the same way that the Treo Pro is the best Windows Mobile smartphone available today with a full QWERTY keyboard, the HTC Touch HD is without a doubt the very best example that I have yet come across of a full touchscreen version and I have to admit that I’m somewhat disappointed that it doesn’t carry the Palm logo…

As you can appreciate from the full side-by-side specifcations below, the HTC Touch HD offers some absolutely spectacular hardware and also astounding value (I got mine for free with an 18 months contract). For starters you get an ultrafast 528MHz processor, 512MB memory with 288MB user available, ultraslim (only 12mm) and ultralight (only 147 grams) body, a huge 3.8 inch TFT-LCD touchscreen with 480x800 resolution, a 5.0 megapixels camera _and_ a second camera at the front for video calling, built-in G-Sensor (motion), HSDPA, GPS and WiFi as well as a 3.5mm audio connector, built-in radio and (with Orange at least) a free 8GB microSDHC card thrown in.

The combination of all of this super high-end hardware on the HTC Touch HD is nothing short of amazing (it’s better than anything I’ve seen out there including the iPhone 3G and BlackBerry Storm) and I have to admit that it has not only greatly excited me but also helped to further open my eyes as to what the future of smartphones will be - we’re about to experience another revolution that will finally combine Web 2.0 energy and creativity with a new Smartphone 2.0 world.

Virtually the only things that I would like to have seen added or changed on the HTC Touch HD are: to have Palm’s convenient silent slider at the top + a standard microUSB sync & charge connector instead of HTC’s proprietary ExtUSB + a built-in flash to complement the superb high-resolution camera + tri-band UMTS radio to be able to use high-speed wireless data in the US + perhaps a very slightly more polished body design (which Palm could do really well). Aside from this, in terms of hardware, one could say that the HTC Touch HD is basically as close to perfect as you can get today.

As you might expect with a super sharp screen that offers a 480 x 800 pixels resolution, working with the HTC Touch HD is an absolute delight both on your eyes and senses with ultra rich graphics and animations (click on actual screenshots above for full real size) – overall the screen is nothing short of AMAZING… Additionally, I’m sure that you’ll agree with me that HTC has done a superb job with its custom interface on top of Windows Mobile (I’ll review the software in a separate post).

Two other worthwhile mentions about the screen are the fact that 1) you can use a stylus (built-in above) and 2) it’s touch sensitive but you can also use your fingernails (unlike the iPhone) which makes it _much_ easier to type on the on-screen keyboard (screenshot below).

A couple more HTC Touch HD details below include a slightly raised camera at the back to ensure that the speaker does not get muffled when laying on a flat surface and also the “video calling” camera with is discreetly embedded at the top front of the device (image below right).

Overall, I have to admit that before getting my hands on this HTC Touch HD I didn’t think very highly about the company’s devices which more often than not I found to be extremely ugly and clunky. HTC has clearly now managed to completely win me over as this full touchscreen smartphone is absolutely nothing short of incredible with some of the very highest specs available today.

The HTC Touch HD will not replace my Treo Pro principally because as I outlined the other day (see Treo Pro “Smart” Phone) it is still the device that allows me to make calls in the fastest and most intuitive manner possible as well as because ultimately there is (for me at least) no substitute for a real, physical front full QWERTY keyboard for typing emails and messages – particularly for business.

Having said this, there is no doubt that I’m evidently extremely jealous of all the capabilities the Touch HD offers and I hope that Palm will be able to 1) release an updated Treo Pro with some of these more powerful features (including a faster processor, more built-in memory, a 480x480 resolution screen and 5.0 megapixels camera) as well as 2) perhaps in due time offer a full touchscreen Windows Mobile smartphone of its own (rebranding the Touch HD for Palm?).

Separately, as I’ll cover more in-depth later in the week, both the Touch HD and Treo Pro are undoubtedly perfect examples to demonstrate that Windows Mobile powered smartphones have made huge progress and have become considerably more versatile and exciting than we thought…

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Comments

1

by Andy | Nov 24, 2008 1:09:11 PM

HTC seems to have created a phone that may fill in the gaps left by the Storm. The Storm looks great and will definitely attract many new users, however, the Touch HD could keep a lot of current Treo users from heading elsewhere.

Hopefully, major carriers will pickup this phone and offer them to consumers. The Treo Pro looks great, but is not even a consideration to many corporate users. Email and other business communication technologies are often tied into a carrier, so this is a critical point to consider.

With the Storm now belonging to Verizon, I doubt they will even consider a phone like the Touch HD....at least not for many months or longer.

2

by Mike Skor | Nov 24, 2008 2:38:19 PM

Andrew - I agree and am thinking seriously about the HD as my next phone to replace my current Treo, but have the same reservations about wanting a Keyboard. Have you tried the HTC Touch Pro? I'm told it's outstanding, but haven't got my hands on one yet to try...

3

by gee | Nov 24, 2008 7:08:33 PM

Hey, Mike.. just a quick note. I had the HTC Diamond for a short time. The device is magnificent and is very close to everything i want in a phone, the HTC HD that andrew looked at seems to have even out did itself compared to the Diamond. There is one thing I couldnt stand and made me return the product. The keyboard is horrible to use to try and email. For power users the keyboard will be discouraging to use as I couldnt take it. But the overall phone is GREAT. If Palm or HTC made a phone like the HD spec's with a actual keyboard attached I would consider it again.

4

by Andy | Nov 24, 2008 11:32:20 PM

Seems Verizon has released the HTC Touch Pro; Seems like the best option for me to upgrade from my failing treo 700w, and stay with my same carrier.

5

by Jeff Tschiltsch | Nov 25, 2008 10:01:30 AM

Just FYI, a standard mini-usb cable can be used with the HTC EXTUSB just fine. I know it doesn't look like it will fit but it does. I just replaced by Treo 800w with the Sprint Touch Pro which has the same connector and I use a standard mini-USB cable at work to sync & charge. Wonder if they'll make a Touch HD Pro - would love that screen with a slide-out keyboard.

6

by mba | Nov 28, 2008 3:12:32 PM

Mike...I have a HTC Diamond and I'm still loving it (after many Treos). I disagree with Gee - I had reservations about the on-screen keyboard, but I now think the intuitive COMPACT Querty keyboard is awesome for typing, especially one-handed. I almost never miss a key, and with predictive typing I can do e-mails very fast, practically error-free. There is a learning curve to take full advantage, but it didn't take long. And the HTC is so much more stable with Windows Mobile than my Treo...plus lighter and smaller. Mostly, it's the ability to do everything with one thumb that is amazing.

7

by Mike Skor | Dec 2, 2008 4:22:37 PM

Thanks all for the comments on the Diamond. I'm going to have to go over to Sprint (my current carrier, but that may change) and check out the Touch Pro.

Gee - what didn't you like about the Keyboard? Size of keys? Response? Layout?

8

by Dub | Dec 9, 2008 10:42:54 AM

This hardware (if available in CDMA, instead of GSM cancer-phone), combined with Gphone or other Linux-based phone software that doesn't lock me into a ridiculous scheme of "authorized" apps and a rapacious "app store", would be pretty close to my ultimate phone. The first carrier with 1) the realization that lock-in is abhorrent to today's technology users, and 2) the guts to sell a truly open platform, will steal tens of millions of subscribers away from their competition overnight. There are millions of us that want something like an iPhone, but better, and do NOT want Apple or AT&T! Heck, I'll happily sign a long contract if they open up the handset so I can actually use it the way *I* want to...

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